Saint John: An accident that occurred in the afternoon of July 27th in the woods near Deersdale, NB, has claimed the life of Benoît Desjardins, 51, of St-Valérien near Rimouski, Quebec.
Desjardins, a skidder operator working for J.D. Irving Limited, was working as part of a two man conventional logging operation. The feller he was working with cut a dead standing tree, or chicot, and moved away to continue working. The tree remained standing, despite the fact that it was cut.
Desjardins was attaching chokers – bands that are connected to a wire used to pull the tree from the woods – to the base of the felled trees, when a small gust of wind caused the standing chicot to fall. He was struck on the side of the head and although he was wearing a hard hat, he was killed instantly.
A WHSCC Health and Safety Officer was immediately dispatched to the scene, and an investigation of the accident is underway, to determine whether there were violations of the Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) Act.